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David

Heron on the nest, gull standing by

Heron on the nest, gull standing by

Today’s two posts show the same West Park herons’ nest featured yesterday, a couple of days after those pictures were taken. In this set, an accident of perspective makes it look like a gull is standing guard for the nest.

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David

Yellow: mass of broom flowers

Yellow: mass of broom flowers

Broom bush covered in flowers, which was directly behind me as I took the pictures in the previous post.

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David

Heron on the nest, West Park, mid-May

Heron on the nest, West Park, mid-May

Heron courtship, West Park, early in May. By the time of my next visit in the middle of the month, the birds had built a nest and appeared to be brooding.

The nest itself is hard to spot, well hidden among leaves. In these pictures the only glimpses of the bird on the nest is its back or its head just above the parapet.

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David

Heron at the ready

Heron at the ready

Heron at the edge of West Park’s Boating Lake island, watching the water for prey. These pictures were taken mid-May, and this bird was one of the pair engaged in courtship early that month.

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David

Green to blue: mahonia fruit

Green to blue: mahonia fruit

Fruit on a mahonia bush, changing colour from green to blue as it ripens in the spring after the plant’s midwinter flowering.

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David

Duck and two ducklings revisited

Duck and two ducklings revisited

Mallard and her two ducklings on West Park lake, seen twenty-four hours later than in this set of pictures.